Jan 28, 2012 | Green Living, In-Edibles, Recipes
What can you do with a ten minutes and about $1 (or so?)
and
*Today I deviated from my “Rub a Dub 3 Men in the Tub Scrub” recipe and added Citric Acid instead of True Lemon (because that’s what I had) and added Bergamot essential oil drops (about 4) to make a nice citrusy smell. Smells lovely!
So easy I didn’t even have to get out of my PJ’s!
Jan 4, 2012 | Green Living, Recipes, Sides & Salads, Uncategorized
In November, before the first frost hit us,
Mom decided we should pick all the peppers and tomatoes we could from her beautiful garden.
She has a beautiful garden, and I didn’t realize how many she was talking about until I went to help her pick!
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| One of many trays… |
There must have been four large baskets of tomatoes and probably two full trays like this. As for peppers we couldn’t even pick them all- habaneros, hot Chinese, jalapenos, and more.
We scoured the internet for recipes for green tomatoes and peppers, and ended up mostly just winging it anyway…
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| Pickled (Dill) Green Tomatoes! |
For the pickles we just followed a basic pickle formula (with regular vinegar, not cider) and then added fresh dill, some hot peppers, garlic, peppercorns and sliced green tomatoes then processed them.
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| Upside Down Pepperoncini! |
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She had enough banana peppers to make about five or six jars of pepperoncini (our fave.) We just pickled these too (with no dill.)
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| Green Tomato Salsa! |
We had so many tomatoes left over and wanted to make a salsa of some kind. Our favorite salsa is Herdez Tomatillo/Green salsa and we thought, “Why not make a green tomato salsa?” We only made about three jars of this and it came out so yummy! Basically it was chopped green tomatoes, jalapenos, chopped onion and garlic, cilantro, a bit of cumin and salt, some lime juice and touch of vinegar and then we cooked it. I should have written the recipe down!
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| Our Green Bounty |
Our next day we made THE HOTTEST pepper jelly from basically all habanero (aji chombo) peppers and a few jalapenos and Cayenne peppers. We had to cook it outside on the grill because it was so hot, then processed it inside. It came out a beautiful golden color with red and green flecks. I just used the pepper jelly recipe on the pectin package. I swear it’s the hottest goodness you have ever tasted.
Mom still had a ton of peppers at her house so she made aji chombo sauce (Panamanian hot sauce) basically just aji chombo (habanero) peppers chopped up, vinegar, mustard, chopped garlic, chopped onion, and salt and pepper put into a bottle to sit in the fridge. Very, very, hot so be wary.
Dec 22, 2011 | In-Edibles, Recipes
Oh!
Christmas Tree?
Oh…
Christmas Tree!
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| My strong boys and their tree |
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| The kids did all but the lights this year! |
We finally managed to make it to the tree farm on Sunday.
They did mention that was their last day to be open, so we just squeaked in!
The kids talked us into two trees since the big ones were all gone.
I just got the boxes back up today so it doesn’t look so much like a disaster area
(at least in the rooms that company will see.)
I’ve been feeling grinchy.
(“Bah, humbug” says Mama Scrooge.)
Trying to get in the spirit, so tomorrow we are getting together with friends
to make care packages
for men in a Sober Living facility.
Birthday cake to make for J.
He’s requested:
3 tiers,
fondant covered with cookie crumb dirt,
and cookies and cream filling,
with (guess who) Indiana Jones running down the hill and a
giant ball rolling down after him.
Someone’s been watching too much Cake Boss on Netfllix.
Speaking of yummy cakes,
My mom made this beauty for me for my birthday!
Jul 27, 2011 | Main Dishes, Recipes
I made this recipe last night with some okra and peppers from my mom’s garden.
*The recipe doesn’t call for okra, but I like it and had it. Also I am allergic to celery and left
that out. The sausage I used was a turkey andouille. I short-cutted and used a rotisserie chicken to save a bit of time. Was delicious!
Sorry, no picture…
Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo with White Rice on the Food Network
My first attempt at gumbo and not the last!
Jul 11, 2011 | Main Dishes, Recipes
Some good friends of mine have a tomato farm and raise phenomenal heirloom tomatoes.
They were cleaning out their hothouses and gave me some of the spoils…
Yay!
I peeled and seeded the tomatoes last night and made some homemade marinara sauce.
To peel tomatoes:
- Bring a big pot of water to a boil
- Have a bowl of ice water handy.
- Drop tomatoes in boiling water for about 10 seconds, then plunge in the ice water.
- Take core out with paring knife and then slip off skins.
- Slice tomatoes in half and squeeze out seeds (or just slide them out with your finger, I don’t mind some seeds.
For Sauce:
- Slice a few onions very thin. (I used two onions for the amount of tomatoes I had, maybe 15 lbs?)
- Sautee onions and garlic (I used 5 cloves) in olive oil until translucent.
- Add chopped fresh basil, oregano, pepper, bayleaf (whatever spices you will use.)
- Chop tomatoes in blender or food processor and add to pot. I save some and chop them to add texture.
- Cook and add red wine, salt, pepper to taste.
*Mine was still runny after cooking last night so I think I’ll let it cook down more today and then taste again for spices.
Will be good on some homemade pasta!
Jun 23, 2011 | Main Dishes, Recipes
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| Emily Making Rigatoni with Our New Pasta Machine! |
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| Raw Rigatoni! |
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| Ready for Sauce! |
Homemade Pasta
This is supposed to make 6 servings, but I tripled it for my family and ended up with leftovers.
I could have doubled it and we’d have been fine.
1 lb. (16 oz) of flour
4 eggs
Put flour in bowl and make a well.
Add eggs to well and with a fork mix and stir as much as possible.
Using hands mix and knead dough until smooth and pliable. Dough should NOT be sticky. If it is too dry add a bit of water. If it’s too wet add more flour. Again, you don’t want it sticky or it will be a pain to work with (especially if you are using a pasta machine.) I’d gotten this one at Williams & Sonoma today with a gift certificate I’d gotten awhile back. It was down to $20 from $80 and makes
Rigatoni, 2 sizes of macaroni, Fusilli, and Bucatini (hollow spaghetti type pasta!)
It worked great. I have a normal pasta maker I use mainly for making fondant bows for wedding cakes, that we also use for fettucinni and making pasta for ravioli or lasagna.
